Dubai World Cup: Godolphin’s Manobo looks set to extend his winning streak

Godolphin’s Manobo will attempt to extend his sequence of wins by taking the G2 Dubai Gold Cup, over two miles. Established in 2012, the Dubai Gold Cup is all about stamina, a quality that the five-from-five Manobo is not short of.

Charlie Appleby, the British thoroughbred racehorse trainer, has been a familiar sight in the winner’s enclosure at Meydan Racecourse this season. The reigning British champion trainer reportedly has ambitious summer plans for the rapidly maturing four-year-old. Assessing the chances of Manobo, who was one of the hottest favourites on the day, Appleby said: “Manobo is five from five, an unbeaten son of Sea The Stars. He has come into the Dubai Gold Cup in good order. He’s probably the horse they all must beat. Will Buick rides him.”

The race is all about staying but the Mark Johnston trained Subjectivist, who was ridden by Joe Fanning, set the fastest time of 3:17.77 when he won the Gold Cup last year.

On the contrary, it was Godolphin handler Saeed bin Suroor and jockey Silvestre De Sousa who set the slowest winning time, when Cavalryman crossed the finish line 3:25.31 in the 2013 event.

Appleby said there was great anticipation that this Dubai World Cup night would be memorable.

“It will be great to be back at Meydan with a capacity crowd. It’s always great to see world class competitors coming here to compete, taking on the best from Japan, the US and Europe,” he added.

While Manobo has held pole position ever since he came home an impressive five-and-a-half length winner of the Nad Al Sheba Trophy in February, danger looms in the form of Japanese star Stay Foolish.

The seven-year-old son of Stay Gold dominated his rivals to win the Red Sea Turf Handicap at Riyadh’s Saudi Cup meeting on February 26 and comes to Dubai in top form.

French jockey Christophe Lemaire, who has been based in Japan for the past five years, warned that Japanese horses must not be taken lightly. A bullish Lemaire said: “Japanese trainers have grown in confidence after a successful Saudi Cup and are hoping that their six runners will deliver a strong challenge at the Dubai World Cup on Saturday.”

The Frenchman has six mounts on the Dubai World Cup card, but it is Japanese stars — Schnell Meister and Authority — that he hopes will give him a valuable postscript to his famous haul in the recent Saudi Cup. Lemaire enjoyed a stellar day at the Riyadh racecourse, riding four winners, including Neom Turf Cup victor Authority and Red Sea Turf Handicap hero Stay Foolish — both of whom will run in Dubai on Saturday.

sports@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai